Latest Current Affairs For Tuesday 26th October, 2021

Current Affairs in One Minute

1-Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Infosys Foundation Vishram Sadan at National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Jhajjar Campus of AIIMS New Delhi via video conferencing. 

2-In a landmark achievement, India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 100 crore doses. 

3-The 'Invest Rajasthan-2022' summit will be held on January 24-25 next year at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre. 

4-The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Rajkiya Medical College, Kushinagar. He also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various development projects in Kushinagar. 

5-RakshaMantri Rajnath Singh launched Web Based Project Monitoring Portal (WBPMP)for Military EngineerServices (MES) at New Delhi. 

6-Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar inaugurated a Comprehensive Resuscitation Training Centre (CRTC), at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) & Safdarjung Hospital. 

7-The Union Public Service Commission has opened a ‘HELPLINE’ (Toll Free Number 1800118711) with the objective to assist the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), who have applied/ or are intending to apply for the Commission’s Examinations/ Recruitments. 

8-The 72nd Inter-services Football Championship was held at Maharaja Stadium, Kochi between 15 - 20 Oct 21. The championship was won by Indian Air Force. 

9-The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised Covid-19 booster doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and approved "mix and match" booster dose for currently available approved Covid-19 vaccines. 

10-Retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers eased to 2.89 per cent and 3.16 per cent, respectively, in September, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. 

Razorpay launches card tokenisation solution

Fintech platform Razorpay launched ‘Razorpay TokenHQ’ solution for  businesses in India to enable their end-customers to continue experiencing the convenience of saved card transactions. 

Now it is available with added security and in compliance with RBI guidelines.

It is a multi-network Card-on-File (CoF) Tokenisation solution.

It will work across all major card networks including Mastercard, RuPay, and Visa.

Headquarters: Bengaluru

CEO: Harshil Mathur

AU Small Finance Bank launches sound box for payment alerts

AU Small Finance Bank unveiled a sound box that will provide instant voice-based payment alerts to merchant partners.

The QR Code Sound Box is aimed at enhancing the bank’s reach in digital payments.

The sound box is a portable speaker that is equipped with a dedicated SIM slot for data connectivity, which gives voice notification.

It will be made available in five languages - Hindi, English, Punjabi, Guajarati and Marathi.

Hq: : Jaipur

Tagline: Badlaav Humse Hai

G7 countries reach breakthrough on digital trade and data

The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations agreed on a joint set of principles to govern cross-border data use and digital trade.

The principles named ‘G7 Digital Trade Principles’, were adopted by the respective Trade Ministers of G7 during the G7 Trade Summit, held at Mansion House, in London.

G7 countries have introduced a Global Minimum Corporate Tax rate of at least 15% on Multinational Companies(MNCs).

Members US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan and EU. 

Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021: 24-31st October

Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2021 is being celebrated between 24th to 31st October 2021.

This year will mark the 11th annual observance of the event.

The host for 2021 Global Media and Information Literacy Week will be South Africa.

UNESCO will co-organize the event.

The MIL is celebrated through the organization of various relevant activities or events.

This year’s MIL theme is Media and Information Literacy for the Public Good.

Goa becomes the 1st state to achieve ODF and Electricity for each household

Goa has achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Electricity for every household.

Goa has also become the first state to provide tap water to every household under the “Har Ghar Jal Mission”.

Apart from that, Goa achieved 100 per cent target to provide free ration to the poor and needy.

It has also completed 100 per cent first dose of covid-19 vaccination.

For that Information and Broadcasting Minister, Anurag Thakur praised Goa govt.

Goa CM: Pramod Sawant 

Azadi Amrut Chai in Orthodox, Elaichi, Adrakh and Masala flavors launched

M/s Andrew Yule & Co Ltd, a CPS in Tea Sector under Ministry of Heavy Industries has come out with a series of Azadi Amrut Chai in Orthodox, Elaichi, Adrakh and Masala flavors. 

It was launched by the Union Heavy Industries Minister, MN Pandey.

It is a 158 yrs old company, has 15 Tea Gardens spread over Assam and West Bengal having 14000 employees.

All its gardens are more than 100 years old producing 110 Lac Kgs of high quality, CTC, Orthodox, Green and White Tea.

National Inter-Religious Conference held in Nagpur

National Inter-religious Conference was organised by the Lokmat media group in Nagpur. 

Theme of the conference was 'Global Challenges to Communal Harmony and Role of India'.

It is a forum for bringing together the views of different religions and sects.

Sri Sri Ravishankar, Swami Ramdev, Acharya Lokesh Muni, Archbishop of Mumbai Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Haji Syed Salman Chishti, Bhikkhu Sanghasena and many other religious leaders participated in this Conference.

India's first ‘test tube’ Banni buffalo calf born in Gujarat

The first IVF calf of 'Banni' breed of buffaloes, found primarily in Gujarat's Kutch region, was born in Gir Somnath district.

The process was carried out to enhance the number of genetically superior buffaloes to increase milk production. 

Producing calves by deploying ART will pave the way for rapid multiplication of superior animals at a much faster pace.

India has more than 109 million buffaloes that are 56 per cent of the world's buffalo population.

Max Verstappen wins F1 U.S. Grand prix 2021

Denmark’s formula one racing driver Max Verstappen won the 2021 U.S. Grand Prix title.

This is his eighth title of the season.

Verstappen and Red Bull won on a track where Hamilton and Mercedes have been dominant for years.

The victory doubled Verstappen's lead over Hamilton to 12 points in the standings with five races remaining and could prove to be a pivotal win in this classic championship battle.

Saudi Arabia to use $110 billion gas project for blue hydrogen

Saudi Arabia will use one of the world’s biggest natural-gas projects to make blue hydrogen.

The kingdom is steps up its efforts to export a fuel seen as crucial to the green-energy transition.

A large portion of gas from the $110 billion Jafurah development will be used for blue hydrogen. 

It is made by converting natural gas and capturing the carbon dioxide emissions.

The kingdom also plans to sell green hydrogen in a process that creates no carbon emissions.

India's 1st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier begins 2nd phase of sea trials

India's 1st indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant begun its 2nd phase of sea trials. 

INS Vikrant to be inducted into the Indian Navy by August next year (2022).

The 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier, the largest and most complex warship to be built in India, successfully completed a five-day maiden sea voyage in August.

The warship will operate MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters, MH-60R multi-role helicopters.

The warship has been built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. 

PM Modi to launch ‘Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’

PM Narendra Modi will launch the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) at a function organised in Varanasi.

PMASBY will be one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure across the country.

It will be in addition to the National Health Mission.

Objective of PMASBY is to fill critical gaps in public health infrastructure, especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas.

Fabio Quartararo wins maiden MotoGP title for France

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo became the 1st Frenchman to won the MotoGP world championship after finishing 4th at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Pole Bagnaya led the Ducati home race when he crashed 5 laps to go, losing the race to Marc Marquez of Honda and the world title Quartararo.

Cuartararo’s victory ended nearly a decade of Spanish domination after Marquez, Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Juan Mir of Suzuki (2020) won their last nine titles.

Viktor Axelsen and Akane Yamaguchi wins 2021 Denmark Open

Danish Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen won the Mens' single 2021 Denmark Open Badminton held at the Odense Sports Park, Denmark.

He defeated world number 1 Momota Kento of Japan.

Akane Yamaguchi of Japan won her second title in women’s category defeating An Se-young (South Korea).

Men’s double – Takuro Hoki, and Yugo Kobayashi (Japan). 

Women’s double – Huang Dongping and Zheng Yu (China). 

Mixed double – Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino (Japan).

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.